Sony's PS Vita TV Is Brilliant, Could Destroy the PS Vita

The PlayStation Vita TV microconsole Sony just announced is a new, surprising, and clever concept that could wreck the Vita itself.

Sony announced new PlayStation Vita products at the Tokyo Game Show today, and while they're currently only confirmed for Japan, they could mean big changes for the floundering Vita handheld.

The PlayStation Vita itself is getting a new, slimmer redesign with a non-OLED LCD screen, but that's not the big news. The big news is the PS Vita TV, a Vita-based micro-console.

This is a $100 micro-console that has the processing power of the PS Vita and plugs into your HDTV. A bundle with an 8GB memory card and a DualShock 3 controller will be available for about $150. Like the Vita, it can play downloaded PSP and PSOne games, and has a game card slot so you can play physical Vita games as well as downloaded titles. It can also play PlayStation 4 games through Remote Play, if the system is connected to a different HDTV in the house. The PS Vita TV could be huge, offering powerful competition to both the Ouya and media hubs like the Apple TV and Roku 3. It will also provide a much-needed "budget" console choice for hardcore gamers not willing to spend $400 on a PlayStation 4, $500 on an Xbox One, or $300 on a Nintendo Wii U.

It could be a game-changer if it comes out in the U.S. equipped with the multimedia found on the Vita. It won't be serious competition against the major conventional gaming consoles, but against smaller micro-consoles and media hubs, it could wreck everything. For the price of an Apple TV or a Roku 3 (if you bring your own memory card and already have a PlayStation 3 controller), you get a functional media hub that can access Netflix, YouTube, and Sony's Music and Video Unlimited services and play every game available for the Vita that doesn't require a touch screen. That means most Vita games and every PSOne and PSP game available for download on the PSN Store.

Unfortunately, it would kill the PS Vita itself. In fact, the PS Vita TV is Sony's tacit admission that the Vita as envisioned is not going to happen. The handheld was crushed in the market by the Nintendo 3DS, and with the 2DS and new Pokemon and Zelda games on the way, even a streamlined, less expensive Vita is going to have a hard time. The PS Vita TV is a way to salvage the extensive engineering and development Sony put into the Vita so it doesn't go to waste and can make money for Sony in another form. It could be a great product for consumers, but it could be the death knell of the PlayStation Vita as a platform.

The next few months will see the release of two new game systems (one of which is also made by Sony), along with a less expensive version of the 3DS that has completely eclipsed the Vita in handheld sales. Now the PS Vita TV represents a micro-console that can play all current Vita software, but doesn't have a touch screen or touch pad, taking away one of the big design aspects of the handheld. Now, as an HDTV-bound micro-console as its most appealing form, there isn't much to encourage developers to focus on this rather than the PlayStation 4.

It's clear that the ability to play PlayStation Vita games isn't even the biggest draw of the PS Vita TV, or at least not on its own. It's the huge back catalog of PSP and PSOne games, which represent a massive library of classic titles available in different forms. More users will look at the PS Vita TV as a way to play Final Fantasy 7 or Persona 3 Portable (or Persona 4: The Golden, which is indeed a Vita game, but it was ported from the PlayStation 2 and has already been released) than they will to play Tearaway or Ys: Memories of Celceta. Incidentally, the fact that it took me more than 10 seconds to come up with upcoming Vita titles that aren't already PS3 ports speaks volumes.

The Vita isn't a platform with much of a software future, and software is what drives every gaming platform. If you don't have new, fresh games for it, you're going to fail. That's why Sony isn't even trying to frame the PS Vita TV as a console. It's a "micro-console," to be compared to devices like the Ouya that have floundering, uneven game libraries. In the land of the lame, the one-eyed man with the first 10 Final Fantasy games is king.

Yes, Sony also announced a new design of the PlayStation Vita. System redesigns don't necessarily represent a commitment to continue the system, just that the company found a new case to put it in or a way to save money or make it seem more appealing without changing its architecture. The fact that the new Vita has a non-OLED LCD screen indicates that the company is shaving some money off the manufacturing cost. It doesn't mean Sony is pushing for adoption of the PS Vita as a gaming platform like it did in the past.

I'm looking forward to the PS Vita TV, and if it's going to be released in the U.S. you can expect us to put it through the ringer in our labs to see how it fares against both game systems and media hubs. On paper, it's destined to be a big hit by combining media hub features with a strong, already-present game library. As a game system, and as an extension of the PlayStation Vita, though, it's a sign that even Sony isn't planning fight very hard against Nintendo's handhelds. It's good to see that the hardware isn't going to waste, though.

Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for more than six years, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. Since graduating from Syracuse University in 2005, Will has been an active technology journalist both online and in print. His work and analysis has been seen in GamePro, Tested.com, Geek.com, and several other publications. He currently covers consumer electronics in the PCMag.com labs, focusing on Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, and other home theater equipment.
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